Such a frustrating disappointment

Pretty Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

In Ong-bak, monk-in-training Ting volunteers to go to the city to hunt down the mobster who stole the head of their sacred statue. He falls in with a couple of swindlers and winds up in a whole bunch of fights. The fights are brutally entertaining, full of leaps and kicks and elbow jabs. Star Tony Jaa is athletically acrobatic, something shown off to greatest effect not in a fight but in a long chase sequence in which Ting does things like leap over cars (in splits position). The action is terrific, but not much else is. It's a little hard to judge things like acting and dialogue when watching a foreign movie, but most of the acting seemed pretty bad (especially the early scenes in the village) and the subtitled dialogue was pretty stupid.Jaa himself has solid screen presence, and Petchtai Wongkamlao is amusing as one of the swindlers, but take out the action sequences are you have a really bad half hour. The story isn't even neutral; it is actually worse than if they'd had no story at all, because it relies on criminals so spiteful that they do things that lead to their ruin (a smart criminal could have ended the whole sage in five peaceful minutes), and because the ending is a bummer.But if you want to see a bunch of martial arts, definitely check this one out.

When criminals steal the head of their Buddha statue, a young warrior from a Thai village travels to Bangkok to get it back. This film has a fairly perfunctory plot and is really a showcase for Tony Jaa's Muay Thai skills and for the outrageous stunt skills on display here. On those terms, it's really impressive with one small flaw ... it climaxes way too early. There's a fight sequence in the middle of the film with Jaa fighting an escalating series of enemies in a bar that is so good that it completely overshadows the second half of the film. The film's actual climax is a let down by comparison.

"Ong Bak" refers to a really old statue of The Buddha that sits in a small Thai village. Thieves from Bangkok disrespect and decapitate the statue and take the head with them. Believing their village is now cursed without it, the upset villagers determine to recover it. One of the villagers, Ting, played by Muay Thai legend Tony Jaa, volunteers to travel to Bangkok. His logical starting point is Don, a drug dealer who attempted to buy the statue and so begins his spiritual warrior journey into the depths of Bangkok's criminal underworld.As a Thai I admit I am biased but this is one of the great martial arts films of all time. The action is incredible and the fact that there is no cgi makes it all the more epic and rewarding. No wire work either. It is a battle of good vs evil elevated to epic status since the hero's journey is spiritually justified. Muay Thai and Taekwondo fans will recognise many of the moves. This is an exciting introduction to Thai Culture and our people.

First of i wan't to say that Ong-Bak had some very good fight scenes, and great action written all over it. But i found the story to be a bit boring and there was not much to hang on to or however i should put it, you don't feel much compassion for him is what i mean. For instance in "Ip man", we learnt to have great respect for Donnie Yen, he didn't wan't to fight but has to do it in order to protect his family and fellow man, that is in my opinion the perfect blend. However in this movie Tony Jaa is told right at the start: "Now that you have learnt all these fancy Martial arts moves, you must never use it!" and he of course says yes, just like in one of Bruce Lee's earlier movies when he swears to his master not to fight, just in self-defence. So Tony (or Ting) as he's called in the movie, goes against his father's wish the first chance he gets and beats the living crap out of everyone.But if that's all you're looking for, then i'd say this is the movie for you, and also keep in mind this is his first exhibition film, so in that sense it's alright. Just don't expect any deep scenes or over- meaningful dialog.